The Space Between
by NotDoneAbusingYou
Summary: Set during 'Our Undoing'. What happened while Bash and Catherine went to exhume Francis? ONE SHOT.


She felt like she'd been walking forever. It was dark and she could barely tell if she was even headed in the right direction. Her feet were killing her, the boots she was wearing were too big and she was freezing. But she had to keep moving. Her survival depended on it.

Just when she thought she wouldn't make it another step, she heard hoof beats. Could they have found her so quickly? What if they hadn't found her? Who had? She started running, or at least what could pass for running in her weakened state, but then she caught a familiar face out of the corner of her eye.

 _ **"Sebastian. How did you find me?"**_

 _ **"Returning from Saint-Denis, I came across Mary's carriage. She told me of your planned route of escape."**_

 _ **"Did you find Francis' embalmer?"**_

 _ **"He's vanished. Neighbors say he came into a sum of money and fled the day after Francis' funeral."**_

 _ **"He was bribed. He handed off Francis' liver to be tampered with by those who would frame me."**_

 _ **"I've been thinking about it, and I've come up with a different view, that the blackened liver didn't belong to Francis. This is the certificate of immortalization signed by the embalmer. In it is the date that he received Francis' body and the date that Francis' prepared corpse was sealed in his coffin at Saint-Denis, a time span of just two days."**_

 _ **"A royal embalming takes a week."**_

 _ **"Exactly. I believe these dates were carelessly scribbled by a man so eager to take his bribe and flee, he didn't bother embalming Francis at all."**_

 _ **"If Francis' liver is still in his body, it proves he wasn't poisoned...There's only one way to confirm that...Let us visit my son."**_

Catherine moved toward the horse and Bash helped her up onto it, pausing for a moment to look at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing." he said, lifting his eyebrows. "It's just that hat..."

"Oh for God sake, I told Mary I looked ridiculous." she said tearing off her head and shoving it into a pocket. He laughed a bit. He couldn't bring himself to tell her that it was actually sort of cute in an odd way.

"It's not that, it's just I'm not used to seeing you out of your dresses..." wait that sounded bad. "I mean you're usually so...royal?" Catherine gave him an odd look. "I'm going to stop talking now."

"That's probably best." she said and he climbed up on the horse behind her. He turned them around and took off, back to Paris.

They ride in silence for awhile, Catherine deep in thought. After a short time had passed, Bash started to to feel uncomfortable with the dead air between them.

"Are you alright? I'm not crowding you am I?" He asked.

"No. I'm fine." She replied in an even tone.

"Well, you were so quiet. That's not like you." He said, with the smallest bit of concern bleeding through.

"I just keep wondering what happens if your theory is wrong. What if he was poisoned? Not only will it be impossible to prove my innocence, but he will have died for nothing, if I'd known, I could have helped him. Maybe I deserve it. Maybe fate has finally decided to pay me back for all the awful things I've done." She explained. Bash sighed. Now she was blaming herself? He suddenly felt a pang of sadness for her. All she's endured in loosing Francis, and now this on top of it? It didn't seem fair that one person would have to go through so much. How she hadn't broken yet was beyond him.

"Whatever it turns out to be, it's not your fault. There's nothing you could have done. Besides, if it had been poison, I'm sure Nostradamus or one of the many physicians he saw would have found it. No matter your wrongs, they have always been to protect your children. It would be beyond cruel for you to pay for this, of all things. We WILL clear your name. Then we will find who did this, and punish them. I promise." he said putting his hand over hers. She looked down at their hands, a little thrown off. When she looked back up, she realized they had veered off of the road onto a smaller path.

"Why are we leaving the main road?" she asked.

"There's an inn just over that ridge."he said.

"An Inn? We don't need to stop." she said

"It's late, the horse needs rest. We need rest. Paris is nearly two days from here, pushing ourselves isn't going to make the journey go faster." he explained.

They pulled up to the inn. Bash jumped off the horse and tied it up and then helped Catherine down. Catherine sneered at the place, and turned her nose up at it. Bash rolled his eyes. Bash held the door for her and they entered. They made their way over to the innkeeper.

"Excuse me. Do you have any rooms available?" Bash asked him.

"We have one room." he said staring at Catherine.

"What? Haven't you ever seen a woman in boys clothes before?" she said sarcastically.

"No." he said flatly.

"Well now you have, you can stop staring now." she snapped. Bash glared at her over his shoulder.

"The room." Bash reminded the innkeeper. He pulled out a key from his pocket and threw it on the counter.

"Down the hall, third door on your right." he said, pointing to the hallway. They walked toward the hall as Catherine and the innkeeper stared each other down. Bash grabbed her arm and pulled her so she would walk faster. He opened to room's door and closed it behind them.

"Did you have to antagonize him? For your safety it would be better if you didn't create a reason for him to remember you. The castle guard is probably out looking for you." he warned.

"I think my outfit was enough to do that on it's own." she pointed out. "I have got to get out of this thing."

"How are you going to do that?" he asked. She opened the front of her jacket and pulled a folded up dress out of the lining, where she'd been quick thinking enough to tuck it into before Mary spirited her away. Bash smiled, almost laughing.

"You smuggled your own dress out of the castle?" he mused.

"Well, I didn't know how long it would be until I was able to get some real clothes, and I wasn't about to get stuck wearing this for weeks on end." she explained, gesturing towards her outfit. She laid the dress over the back of a chair and looked around the room. "There's only one bed." she noted.

"It's alright, I'll sleep in the chair." he said. "I'll light us a fire and then see if I can't get us some food before we go to sleep." Catherine nodded and took off her jacket, sitting on the bed. It creaked loudly.

"Well. I hope none of the other guests feel like getting frisky tonight. I'll never be able to sleep with that racket." she noted. Bash looked toward the fireplace so she wouldn't see him smile at her comment. He finished making the fire and went to get something for them to eat.

When he got back with a tray of food, he found Catherine had fallen asleep already. He locked the door behind him and sat in the chair with the plate of food. He only ate a few bites before falling asleep himself.

Sometime during the night, Catherine woke to see Bash asleep, half hanging off the tiny wooden chair. It looked so painfully uncomfortable. She stood and walked over to him quietly. She gently shook him awake. He stirred slowly. It took a second for him to remember where he was.

"Catherine? Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No. Just that you look like you're about to fall out of that chair. Come. There's plenty of room on the bed." She said.

"I wouldn't want to..." he started.

"It's alright, I don't mind. Besides, you can't be all twisted in knots if we are going to be riding all day tomorrow." she said. She went back and climbed into bed. He watched her a moment, before getting up and tentatively walking to the other side of the bed. Slowly he lifted the covers and laid down next to her. She rolled over on her side, facing away from him as he was on his back. He looked over at her, slightly bothered by the fact that it didn't even feel the slight bit strange to be lying next to her. Shouldn't he feel uncomfortable? He smiled once again and then they both drifted back to sleep.

The next morning, when Catherine woke, Bash was gone. She looked around the room for him and found a note on the table. It read:

 _'Went to get breakfast. Be back soon.'_

She sighed and decided she should change before he returned, as he might want to leave as soon as possible. She disrobed and threw the clothes on the chair. With her back facing the door, she stepped into the dress and pulled it up, putting her arms through the sleeves. It was just up around her midsection, when Bash came in with the food. She quickly brought it up to cover herself. Bash swiftly turned around.

"Catherine I'm sorry...I didn't know you were...um...I didn't see anything I swear." he spat out nervously. He was just for a fleeting moment, but he'd seen.

"It's not your fault, I should've locked the door. I guess I'm just so used to having guards outside, I didn't think." she said, trying to do the buttons on the back of her dress and failing miserably. She sighed. "Could you give me a hand?"

"What?..." he asked, confused since he had yet to turn around.

"These buttons, I can't seem to reach them." she said. He slowly turned to see the dress was now all the way up.

"Oh...of course." he said. He put the food down and went over to do as she asked. She swept the hair out of his way and he had a full view of the smooth surface of her back. He found himself staring and shook his head. He reached for the buttons and did them up, grazing her shoulders as he finished. He cleared his throat.

"There you are. All buttoned up." he said. He grabbed the tray of food. "You're probably hungry since you fell asleep without dinner." he brought the food to the table. "We have to eat quickly though. I would like to get out of the area as quickly as possible. We don't need the guards stopping us before we make it to Paris _._ "

They sat down and ate, then they paid the innkeeper, who glared at Catherine once more, and got back to the horse. Bash secured his saddle and then pulled a light cape out of the saddle bag.

"Here, you should put this on. It's a bit cold out here." he said and wrapped it around her shoulders, then tied it for her. She looked at him curiously.

"Thank you." she said, then examined herself. "Well, it almost resembles presentable. If only I had a hair brush and a pair of shoes that actually fit."

"You're on the run, trying to clear your name for murder. You don't need to be all gussied up for that." He said.

"No I don't, but I don't need to look like I just crawled out from under a rock either." she retorted. He decided it was best not to reply to that.

"Come on, we're wasting daylight." he said and held out a hand to help her onto the horse.

As they rode, they were mostly silent, only speaking every so often when it was too quiet.

"Do you think Narcisse is the one who framed you?" he asked.

"Honestly, I can't say. He is capable, but would he go that far? I don't know." she replied.

"I hope it was him. It'll give me an excuse to put my fist through his face." he said. Catherine almost smiled at that.

They came upon another inn that night and stayed as they had the night before. Sharing a bed once again. As they both lie there, trying to sleep, they talked a bit.

"Not to pry but, why were you even with Narcisse after what he did to Francis anyway?" he asked. She paused a moment, not sure if she should answer him.

"He scared me into believing I needed him...It seems it's standard practice for him." she said, sadly.

"Needed him? Why?" He prodded.

"Protection I suppose. I woman alone in this world is never safe." she replied.

"But you're not alone." he said, then rolled over and closed his eyes. She was too afraid to ask him what he'd meant by that.

When they woke the next morning, Catherine had inadvertently rolled over in the middle of the night and now had her head on his shoulder. They looked at each other awkwardly, then Catherine cleared her throat, try to pretend the awkward situation away.

"I um, we should probably get moving." she said. "Do you want me to get breakfast this time?"

"No, no that's alright. I'll get it. Just make sure you keep your clothes on this time." he joked. She raised a brow at him.

"It was just a...a joke." he explained.

"Just go get the food." she said rolling her eyes.

"On it." he said, pulling on his jacket and shoes and leaving the room quickly.

He soon returned, with the plate of food, but not soon enough for Catherine.

"What took you so long? I feel like I've been waiting all day." she complained.

"Well, I was tracking you down a hairbrush." he said, pulling it out of his pocket. Suddenly she felt very silly for having snapped at him. It was rather sweet that he'd gone to the trouble.

"Thank you." she said, taking it carefully. "That was very thoughtful."

"Well, I tried to find you some shoes too, but didn't have much luck in that department." he explained.

"Well, it was nice of you to try." she said. They ate their breakfast, Catherine finishing first. She went to do her hair while Bash swallowed down the last bits of his, watching her as she brushed it, then simply braided it to the side, as it was the only thing she could do with it on her own. It was strange, but also oddly comforting to see her so undone. When they got back to the horse, Catherine suggested that he ride in front this time because they would be able to ride faster that way.

"I don't know if that's safe." He said.

"Don't worry, I can hold on." She assured. Then they took off, her arms around his waist, hoping to make it to Saint-Denis by nightfall.

"When I asked why you were helping me, you mentioned someone who had taught you to follow your feelings, were you speaking of Delphine?" She asked him as the sun reached the high point in the sky.

"I was, why do you ask?" He said.

"She tried to save Francis, or she did save him for awhile anyway. Even though it was just a short time, it was time we wouldn't have had with him. I'm grateful for that." She said. Suddenly he felt guilty for something, but wasn't quite sure what.

Just as the sky started to darken, they reached the cathedral steps. They looked up at the tower, looming over them ominously, dreading what would follow.

As they entered the church, the priest spotted them and recognized Catherine from Francis' funeral.

"Queen Mother." He said bowing. "What brings you here at such a late hour and without guard?"

"Unfortunately, the gruesome of tasks. I have been accused of poisoning my son. A blackened liver was presented to the council. I am innocent." She said.

"We however, have evidence that King Francis may not have been embalmed at all. As King's Deputy, I need to see the corpse in order to prove the Queen Mother's innocence in this." Bash explained further.

"Of course, we can have the casket ready for viewing by morning, but you should be forewarned, if the body has not been embalmed, it may be...well, a terribly awful site." He told them.

"We are aware." Catherine said, her stomach lurching at the thought.

"Very well then. You may stay here for the night if you wish. We have rooms in the back, a hot bath, food." He offered.

"Thank you Father." Catherine said.

"Sister could you please show the Queen Mother and her escort to a room." He said, pulling a nun aside. The sister nodded and gestured to Catherine to follow her. The priest grabbed Bash quickly before he went with them. "Is there anything else I can do to ease this awful task?"

"The Queen Mother is in need of a proper fitting pair of shoes." He said after thinking on it a moment. The Father nodded, and Bash trailed after Catherine and the nun. They washed and ate and then slept in their separate rooms that night. In the morning, a pair of shoes sat on the table in Catherine's room. When she woke to see them, she smiled inwardly, knowing it had been Bash's doing. She put them on and then went to find him. She me him in the hallway.

"Catherine, I was just coming to wake you. The casket is ready." He said. She swallowed hard. "Are you sure you want to do this. I can go alone. You don't have to..."

"Yes, I do." She said simply. He put a hand on her shoulder and then they went to see Francis.

"Here it is." The priest said as he walked them into a private room where the casket lay. Catherine and Bash slowly walked up to it. The priest gestured to the two men that stood behind him to open it. Catherine's stomach felt like it was doing back flips as they wedged a piece of metal under the lid to break the seal. She grabbed onto Bash's hand instinctively. As it slowly creaked open they leaned over to look in, the bile rising in their throats as he Francis' body came into view. His skin had greyed and his bones had begun to protrude, but he was still whole enough to be recognizable. The sight was too much for Catherine. She started to shake in her attempt to hold in her emotions. Bash felt as though he would be sick.

"There has been no incision. The King was not murdered." said the priest. It was then the tears started to fall from Catherine's eyes and she turned her face away, no longer able to look. Bash put his arm around her, her face buried in his shoulder, as he also looked away.

"That's enough! Close the damn thing!" he snapped at them. They closed it quickly. "Take it away." he ordered.

"We'll load it into a carriage for transport." one of the men said and they lifted it and left the room. Once the men ha gone, Catherine pulled away and started wiping her face clear f the tears.

"I'm sorry. I just..." she started.

"It's alright. You have nothing to be sorry for. No mother should ever have to see her child that way." he said sadly.

"This must not have been easy for you either. For you to go through all this just to help me...I am forever in your debt." she said.

"You owe me nothing." he assured. "But it's over now, you will be free of these horrible charges against you."

"I will never be free of them, because that sight will haunt my nightmares forever." she said. He knew no words could comfort her now, as there were none he knew would comfort him, so he simply squeezed her hand and she returned the gesture.

After they had attempted to eat breakfast and ready themselves for the journey home, they met the same two men who had opened the casket for them as they brought a carriage around front. Bash held out his hand to help Catherine onto his horse again, but she didn't take it.

"No. I shall ride with my son...one last time." He nodded and helped her onto the carriage instead.

Through the day, Bash continued to keep looking back at the carriage to see if Catherine was okay. The few times they stopped for a break, she was mostly silent, a sadness in her eyes, the same he'd seen in her the day he and Mary had to tear her from her room. He prayed she would not revert back to the same state they had found her in that day. How could anyone think, even for a moment, that she had done this was beyond him. Who could witness that kind of grief and think it was possible that she was guilty. He vowed to himself at that moment that who'd ever done this would pay dearly.

That night, they made camp instead of staying at an inn. They needed to make sure that Francis's body was guarded at all times, and they did not want to trust anyone else with the task. The men pitched a tent and took turns throughout the night standing guard. Bash and Catherine were in the tent alone, plates of food sitting in front of them. Bash was eating a bit, but Catherine hadn't touched hers.

"You've barely eaten anything all day." he said. "This rabbit George has caught us is actually quite good."

"I'm not hungry." she said quietly.

"Starving yourself isn't going to wipe that image from your mind." he offered.

"How much do I have to endure before God decides I've had enough?" she asked, not looking at him. He knew exactly how she felt. He didn't know how much more he could handle loosing without loosing himself as well.

After awhile, he figured it was best to just give her some space, and he went to take a check of the perimeter before turning in for the night. When he returned, she was already asleep. She had curled up and pulled the cloak he'd given her tightly around her. She looked like she was freezing. He removed his jacket and laid it over her. She almost immediately looked more comfortable against the extra warmth, her features relaxing themselves, her grip on the cloak loosening. He half smiled, at least he could give her one small comfort. He blew out the lantern and laid down no more than a foot from where Catherine slept, watching her breath until he fell into slumber himself.

The next morning, she woke in the tent by herself. She rose slowly to realize Bash's jacket was on top of her. She lifted it and looked at it awkwardly. He'd been so kind and patient with her over the last few days. It truly baffled her. Shouldn't he hate her? Shouldn't he want her gone, despite Francis' wishes? It didn't make sense. What baffled her even more, was that she didn't hate him either. In fact, she felt oddly safe and at ease with him. Somehow she knew she could trust him.

When she realized the tent was empty, save for her and the blanket she lay on, she got up and straightened her clothing, then ventured outside. She saw Bash helping the men load their things into the carriage. She walked up to him and handed him his jacket.

"I think you might be missing something." she said.

"Thank you." he said, taking it and putting it on. "You...you were shivering so..." he tried to explain.

"Thank you. I hope it didn't make you too uncomfortable." she said.

"No, no I was fine. I run warm anyway." he said. She looked up and caught a glimpse of the casket. Bash looked where her eyes had landed.

"It seems so wrong, digging him up like this and dragging him through the woods for two days. Dishonorable." she said.

"He would understand. He would have wanted you to do this. He would never want you blamed for his death." he said.

"I'm not so sure about that. After everything I did..." she started.

"If he could see you now, he would be proud of you. With how hard you have been fighting and how you have helped Mary...I'm sure he has forgiven you for all of it." he said, putting a hand on her arm. She placed her hand over his.

"I hope your right." she said.

"I know I am." he assured. "Let's go home."

She took one last look at the casket and took a deep breath, then Bash led her to the carriage and helped her up as the men loaded the last of the tent in. Bash tugged on the reigns of his horse and the carriage followed suit. They would reach the castle before nightfall and Catherine would be cleared of her charges, but nothing would be quite the same ever again.

 _ **~FIN~**_


End file.
